With Southern California in the middle of its third heat wave of the summer, Fox 11 turns to one of our own. Orange Doctors of Kids and Teens pediatrician Dr. Alexandra Gorab educates parents on keeping kids safe in extreme heat and around water.
She covers a lot in a few minutes, including:
- The early signs of heat illness that parents tend to miss and what to look for in babies who can’t tell you how they feel
- How to keep a house cool without air conditioning
- How to protect your kids from the sun
- The layers of protection that matter most around a pool
She also shares one small habit that can prevent a hot car tragedy, and it takes about two seconds to build into your routine.
Her line on pool supervision is the one we keep thinking about:
“If everyone is watching, then nobody is watching. So you can’t depend on other people to watch your kids near bodies of water. You need a non-distracted adult supervising, no cell phones, no books, just to absolutely be on high alert.”
We’re proud to have Dr. Gorab on our team and grateful she takes the time to share this with Los Angeles and Orange County families. To schedule a visit, give us a call at 714-639-3914.
Watch the full segment here:
Transcript
So now, with all of that said, we want to give you some tips on how to beat the heat. With us now is Dr. Alexandra Gorab, a pediatrician with Rady Children’s Health,
Orange County. Dr. Gorab, thank you so much for being with me. Thanks for having me.
So we’re in the midst of, or just started the heat wave. This is our third one, back to back to back to back. What are the most common signs of heat-related illness that people can experience?
I think it’s good to distinguish between earlier symptoms and later symptoms,
especially in children. You know, early symptoms can be just fatigue and thirst.
And once a child is thirsty, they’re already getting a little bit dehydrated. Early signs can be headaches, nausea, and muscle cramping, excessive sweating. And some of the later signs that are significant for heat stroke can be confusion, loss of consciousness,
and even seizures. Yeah, it’s important. I always talk about this. I bring it up because I think a lot of people don’t realize that heat is the number one killer when it comes to weather-related events, right? Absolutely, especially in children. OK, and for kids,
infants and toddlers, I have a young toddler. She’s going to be 16 months old tomorrow.
Can’t really verbalize just yet. How how what should parents be looking for? That’s an excellent point. Kids can’t tell you how they’re feeling. So a lot of time you just have to go based on a physical exam or what you’re seeing. In infants, you know, they heat up a lot quicker than adults.
So you’re looking for decreased wet diapers. You’re looking for flushed cheeks. You’re looking for fatigue and lethargy as well. Not making tears when crying. Sometimes altered mental status also would mean you’re really in a dangerous territory and should calm. Okay, and that’s interesting. So infants heat up faster because they’re smaller. Why is that? Infants aren’t able to regulate their body temperatures like older children and adults. They have a hard time getting off excess heat. So it’s really important to just look for these subtle signs. Okay, let’s talk about some tips. What can people do to protect themselves and their kids? Awesome question. Staying cool and staying hydrated. With some of the younger kids, it’s best to even take small sips every 10 to 20 minutes instead of forcing them to drink large amounts just to stay out of it. Like I said before, once a kid is thirsty, they’re already starting to get into that dehydrated range. Air conditioning, staying in the shade, and in really small infants, you really shouldn’t go outside in the heat and humidity for longer than 10 to 20 minutes at a time. Okay, all helpful. What if you don’t have AC? Without AC, cool baths. Try to keep your blinds down in your house during the day so that the sunlight doesn’t get in and increase the temperature of your house. You can even go to the mall, go to the library, somewhere with air conditioning during the day to kind of get an activity in and get some AC.
Nighttime temperatures are going to be dipping down. I mean, it’s going to be, there’ll be a cool off, of course, once the sun goes down, but they’re still going to remain high overnight. That’s what I’m trying to get to. So how can you, what are some tips to keep cool? Keep the windows open. Assuming you don’t have AC. Yes, without AC, keep the windows open. And like I said before, just keep the blinds down during the day so that you get some shade in your house and then cool showers and cool bath. If it’s really,
really hot, a cool bath. And they even make now these individual fans that you can buy online and get those fans old school, turn those fans on and click them onto the crib. What about sunscreen?
Where do you stand on that? Huge proponent of sunscreen, SPF 50 plus for all children and reapply every one to two hours. I would recommend a mineral based sunscreen with zinc oxide, a little bit more natural. And any child over six months should be using sunscreen, less than six months, UPF clothing, and just staying in the shade out of the sun. Okay, good information. Can we switch to pool safety now? Because in preparing for this interview, and as a new mom, I was stunned to read that drowning is the number one killer of kids one to four?
Yes. What can we do to prevent that? How soon should a child be in swim lessons?
Really great question. So the AAP or the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that kids start swim lessons around one year old. But in my opinion, protecting against drowning and pool safety, it’s all about layering protection. So swim lessons, wearing a like flotation device for younger kids. there needs to be adult supervision by the pool. I love the saying that if everyone is watching, then nobody is watching. So you can’t depend on other people to watch your kids near bodies of water. You need a non-distracted adult supervising, no cell phones, no books, just to absolutely be on high alert.
And CPR training, very important. How often should people brush up on their skills?
Very important to be CPR trained. I recommend every one to two years and maybe even doing a refresher once a year. When a child is drowning, drowning is silent.
So you can’t hear anything. The second you notice there’s an issue, you got to take the kid out of the pool, call 911 and start CPR immediately. The earlier you start CPR,
the better. You can save a life. Yeah, that was the other daunting fact is that drowning can happen in seconds. Yes, it can happen in seconds. And like I said, it’s silent. which is why that adult supervision and watching the pool is so important.
Okay, and I think you said that as a one-year-old, that’s when a child should get swim lessons. Yes. The highest risk ages for drowning is less than five years old. But I would say starting swim lessons around one is what the AAP recommends. In addition to those other layers, like having a gate around your pool, having an adult supervising at all times, having a flotation device if your child can’t swim, etc. Okay. Did I miss anything? Is there anything else you’d like to add?
You know, I would like to add one thing about the heat and heat related illness. Leaving children in hot cars is also something during the summer that can be devastating. I would never leave a child in a parked car even for one minute during the summer. because the interior of the car gets very hot, much hotter than the outdoors. And if it’s 100 degrees outdoors, you can imagine how hot it is in the car. So one thing I tell my patients that I would recommend is leave something in the back seat, like a purse or something you will not leave the car without. Because when you turn around to get your purse, you’re also seeing that your child is still in the car. It sounds simple, but it can also save a life. I’m so glad you brought that up because that is something in the news business that we report on and it is awful i mean much like a drowning of course but the hot car issue we’ve reported on it time and time again and often it can be a negligent situation where something absurd has led to this, or just a parent is overwhelmed and they forgot. So the tip to leave a personal item like a purse in the backseat so that you do not forget, because important to stress that it’s a lot hotter in the car than it is outside. So doctor, thank you so much for not forgetting to include that in our conversation today. No problem. Okay. Very good. And we thank her, Dr. Gorab, for joining me here on the Fox Social Stream, important life-saving information. We’ll be right back in two minutes.
